Cyclist Kicked Out of Race After Recording Video With Smart Glasses

The UCI has spent years policing everything from sock height to roadside pee breaks.

Now the cycling governing body has one more thing that can get you kicked out of a bike race.

Former WorldTour pro Willie Smit was disqualified from the Tour of Magnificent Qinghai this weekend after recording video during the race with camera-equipped smart glasses.

The South African veteran, now racing for China’s Anta-Mentech Cycling Team, is one of the first riders caught out by the UCI’s updated onboard technology rules.

Smit, 33, said he broke the rule without realizing it existed.

“Today I was disqualified for the first time in my cycling career (14 years) for wearing glasses that record video,” he wrote on X. “Unfortunately I was not aware of a new rule that was implemented in April that prohibited this.”

Smit later posted crash footage from the stage on X. That post may have alerted officials that he had used the glasses during competition.

“If I knew about the rule I would have also never posted it on social media,” he said. “A warning, fine, or yellow card could have also been enough.”

Smit appeared to be wearing the new Oakley Meta smart sunglasses, which combine a built-in camera with navigation and other performance features aimed at endurance athletes.

Velo contacted the UCI seeking clarification.

What the UCI rules say

This year, the UCI updated its equipment rules as GPS units, power meters, sensors, and other in-race technology continue to evolve.

The revised rules specify that devices that collect or transmit data must be mounted on the bike during competition.

That’s why Smit might have gotten the heave-ho. The camera was on his face, not his bike.

Maybe the UCI just doesn’t want riders chasing viral videos when they should be focused on the race.

Smit also pointed out footage posted on social media during the Tour de France and wondered why the rules appeared to be enforced differently.

In a video post on X, Velon wrote: “Toms Skujiņš was vlogging mid-race. The Lidl-Trek rider used our on-bike camera for an impromptu interview with Victor Campenaerts on Stage 3 at the Tour de France.”

There was no mention of the incident in the Stage 3 jury report, and no sanction has been announced by officials.

On-bike race footage is nothing new and it’s been part of cycling broadcasts for years.

Velon, for example, mounts cameras to the front and rear of bikes that comply with UCI rules.

And this is not the first time the UCI has reined in new technology.

Mario Cipollini once famously made a phone call during a sleepy Giro d’Italia stage in the 1990s. It didn’t take long before cell phones were banned from the peloton.

Meanwhile, commissaires have been relatively quiet during the first week of the 2026 Tour de France.

Aside from a stage 2 kerfuffle involving Isaac del Toro and a botched wrong-way bike swap, there haven’t been many jury decisions blowing up the headlines.

The daily lists of fines and infractions have been surprisingly short.

At least so far.